"Laguiole" knives from Pakistan? Worthless or an ok alternative?

J

Jaxe86

Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Messages
2
Hey there!

A friend of mine is in France and has found a reseller of Laguiole Bougna knives. The offer the man gave him was 6 table knives in a wooden box, a tradional folding knive with cork screw, a hunting style folding knive and a kitchen knive size folding knive. The folding knives all come with leather pouches. The deal is €150 (roughly $200). He is in doubt whether to take the deal or not. I found on this forum that the knives origin is in Pakistan, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience regarding the quality of the knives? And does somebody have some information regarding this "brand", it seems there aint that much information around about the knives. Thanks!
 
As far as I am aware a Laguiole knife can only come from the city of Thiers in France. The knife companies there have a protected status and only knives produced there can be called a genuine laguiole. It's a bit like champagne, if it comes from the champagne region it can be called champagne, if it comes from anywhere else in the world it has to be called sparkling wine. If the knives are made in Pakistan then they are fakes and cannot be called genuine Laguiole knives.

Here are 2 of the genuine producers

http://www.fontenille-pataud.com/en/

http://www.forge-de-laguiole.com/en/
 
Jonny1801 said:
As far as I am aware a Laguiole knife can only come from the city of Thiers in France. The knife companies there have a protected status and only knives produced there can be called a genuine laguiole. It's a bit like champagne, if it comes from the champagne region it can be called champagne, if it comes from anywhere else in the world it has to be called sparkling wine. If the knives are made in Pakistan then they are fakes and cannot be called genuine Laguiole knives.

Here are 2 of the genuine producers

http://www.fontenille-pataud.com/en/

http://www.forge-de-laguiole.com/en/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I understood that technically the problem with the brand "Laguiole" is that it's exactly the opposite of how champagne is protected. Hence the lawsuit that the french businessman Gilbert Szajner started against the town Laguiole itself for using the name he "smartly" (or rather dingy) registrated in 1993. I know that the knives are fake, or at least not manufactured with the skill of the french artisans in Thiers and Laguiole itself. But my question is really if somebody has experience with these knives and their quality.
 
Sounds like $200 worth of junk. I'd much rather buy one genuine $200 made-in-France Laguiole knife.
 
Jaxe86 said:
Thanks for the information. I understood that technically the problem with the brand "Laguiole" is that it's exactly the opposite of how champagne is protected. Hence the lawsuit that the french businessman Gilbert Szajner started against the town Laguiole itself for using the name he "smartly" (or rather dingy) registrated in 1993. I know that the knives are fake, or at least not manufactured with the skill of the french artisans in Thiers and Laguiole itself. But my question is really if somebody has experience with these knives and their quality.
Click to expand...

It's typically not too easy to find someone with a lot of experience with Laguiole knives in general, I doubt you will find anybody on this board that has experience with Pakistani knock offs of Laguiole. And I would think the fact that they're Pakistani knock offs would be a big hint as to their level of quality.
 
He seems strangely informed in his second post. Knowing the legal stance, to me, shows he might know the value too.

I can tell you from personal experience, sharpening kitchen knives, that knives from region are usually really hard to sharpen. Seems the steel is usually really soft, in general, and a pain to get sharp.
 
I saw a thread here not to long ago about the quality of Paki knives, and there was many problems, and the pics of the knife were of a Knock-off Lagouile.
 
For that cost when I was there in 2006 you could have bought a pretty decent Le Thiers Laguiole if you just avoided the heavy tourist areas (Do NOT buy it in Paris or Cannes unless you want to pay out the nose). Lots of kitchen supply shops have Laguiole folders too, or did when I was there at least.

Avoid the Paki garbage, they're usually just as poorly made as the Spanish Laguioles.
 
Jaxe86 said:
I know that the knives are fake, or at least not manufactured with the skill of the french artisans in Thiers and Laguiole itself. But my question is really if somebody has experience with these knives and their quality.
Click to expand...

No. No one does. Know why? Because we know they are junk, Pakistani rip offs. Why would we go and buy stuff we know is junk AND illegal? If you want to, knock yourself out.
 
I have seen one Paki laguiole. The fit and finish was not good, even compared to low end french laguioles, whose fit/finish can be bad as well. The design was clunky. I did not buy it, it was being sold at about 1/2 the price of the real thing in a "french decorator" shop. The guy thought it was french made, when I pointed it out, he was mortified. They disappeared by the next time I went in and have not returned. I don't know about in France, but in the US brick and mortar stores, any laguile folding knife worth buying is always over $100 and the sets of steak knives run about $40 apiece
 
I have bought some real laguiole steak knives from TJ Maxx for $15 for a 6 piece set. At least thats my belief. They say made in Thiers France and include a "certificate of auenthcity" they arent folding ones, which I kinda wish they were. But they are nice and very sharp, just not hefty. Id say if you did some searching around you could find real ones for cheaper and know they are real.


pretty much look like this

mZ441z50V1yYDjp0nHHsIKQ.jpg
 
mars5l said:
I have bought some real laguiole steak knives from TJ Maxx for $15 for a 6 piece set. At least thats my belief. They say made in Thiers France and include a "certificate of auenthcity" they arent folding ones, which I kinda wish they were.
Click to expand...

thinking-008.gif


I think your belief may be incorrect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top